Foreign minister Park Jin spoke on the phone with his Malaysian counterpart on Friday and proposed cooperation between their nations in the areas of defense and infrastructure.

Seoul's foreign ministry said that it marked the first phone call between the top diplomats since the launch of new governments in the two nations.

In the phone call with Malaysian foreign minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, Minister Park said that the two nations developed cooperative relations in various areas since they established diplomatic ties in 1960.

Park then proposed the two nations enhance exchanges between high-level officials and strengthen substantial cooperation in defense, infrastructure and smart city tech as this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Look East Policy. The policy was adopted by Malaysia in the 1980s to learn from Korea’s economic development.

Explaining the government's Indo-Pacific strategy and pursuit of closer relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Park proposed that South Korea and Malaysia improve their bilateral strategic communication. In response, the Malaysian minister expressed hope for further cooperation with South Korea.